The present invention relates generally to plastic fasteners and more particularly to clips of plastic fasteners.
Plastic fasteners are well known in the art and are commonly used to couple together a pair of objects. For example, plastic fasteners are commonly used to couple or recouple a button onto an article of clothing.
Plastic fasteners typically comprise a flexible filament which has an enlarged head formed at one end and a transverse bar, or T-bar, formed at the opposite end.
A plurality of such plastic fasteners are typically manufactured as part of a unitary fastener clip, also commonly referred to as a fastener assembly, in which the individual fasteners are interconnected in a row to a stringer or runner bar. In one well-known type of fastener clip, the transverse bar of each individual fastener is connected to the runner bar by a thin, severable connector post, or neck.
In U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,891 to S. J. Kunreuther there is disclosed an assembly of attachments and a device for attaching the same. The assembly includes first and second parallel connecting bars between which individual attachments are situated in parallel, spaced relation. Each of the attachments includes first and second T-bar ends with a flexible filament extending therebetween. The attaching device includes a housing with a recess having first and second sections adapted to receive the first and second connecting bars, respectively. First and second hollow needles extend from the housing. The T-bar ends are pushed through needles by simultaneously actuatable ejector rods after each is severed from the associated connecting bar. The assembly of the attachments is advanced through the housing to align the T-bars with the needles by simultaneously actuated indexing gears. The gears cooperate with the elements which join the T-bar ends and the connecting bars.
It should be noted that fastener assemblies which comprise a runner bar experience notable drawbacks. Specifically, fastener assemblies which employ runner bars often limit the number of fasteners which can be conveniently supplied in a single assembly. Furthermore, fastener assemblies which employ runner bars waste material since the runner bar is not put to productive end use.
Plastic fasteners of the type described above are commonly designed to be inserted through hollow slotted needles for tagging or for joining two objects together. Such fasteners, together with the apparatus for applying them, have been widely employed for the attachment of buttons to garments, for the pairing of items such as shoes, and in various industrial applications.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,162, there is disclosed a fastener attaching tool which is well-known and widely used in commerce. The fastener attaching tool is particularly suited for use in attaching buttons to clothing, etc. and is constructed for use with a fastener clip which includes a pair of runner bars and one or more U-shaped fasteners having transverse bars at opposite ends, each transverse bar being connected on its side to a corresponding runner bar by a severable connector post. The tool includes a body having a front end. A pair of needles are pivotally mounted at the front end of the body, each needle having a longitudinal slotted bore adapted to receive one of the transverse bars and a knife edge formed on one side which is adapted to sever a connector post from its associated transverse bar as the transverse bar is pushed through the needle. The body is shaped to include a transverse feed slot down through which the fastener clip is manually inserted. The tool also includes an ejector mechanism which is slidably mounted back and forth within the body and is rearwardly biased by a spring. The ejector mechanism is moved manually forward from the rear of the tool and includes a pair of ejector rods which are used to push the transverse bars into and through the bores in the needles. The body includes a pair of flexible fingers which cooperate with a pair of posts on the ejector mechanism to prevent automatic return of the ejector mechanism from its forwardmost position in the body to its rearwardmost position when forward pressure on the ejector mechanism is removed.